Documenting one guy's journey toward the end - with frequent stops at FUN! and fantastic. Side trips to serendipity and kismet.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Vacating 8607

Well… The final move out of 8607 happened more or less as planned. Minor glitches – but those things part of living I suppose.

I left SA on Friday May 25th and was on the road by 11 from 8607.

Stopping for gas for the U-Haul I ran into the first of several “for your protection” limitations on how much gasoline you can pump at one time - $100 worth. Here in SA that was about 29 gallons. Other places the price was higher and therefore the gallons less. Doesn’t take a calculator to figure that a $100 worth of gasoline does not take a loaded U-Haul very far when the truck gets about 6 miles to the gallon.

Nice scenery – if you call the west Texas desert nice. But what I had not realized was that from about Junction (http://goo.gl/maps/aqhP) west to the summit outside Sierra Blanca (http://goo.gl/maps/VhAV) that the road – even though it looks level – actually gains a couple dozen feet per mile. I don’t remember the exact elevation at the summit, but I found it interesting that a seemingly flat and level looking road was actually going up significantly.

There were some nasty winds on Saturday as I went across southern New Mexico and on into Arizona. 20-25 steady with gusts to 40-50 was the forecast. And I believe it! That U-Haul was rockin’ and rollin’ side-to-side. Makes for a tense day driving a rig that has super-loose steering that throws the truck around every time a significant bump or pot hole was hit.

And speaking of road conditions – I’m spoiled by the roads here in Texas. In comparison to Arizona and California roads the Texas roads are as smooth as glass. I can see the effects of AZ and CA being broke – their roads are in very poor condition.

But I always find the scenery in Arizona to be interesting. Would love to someday be in this rocky area at sunrise to catch the interplay of rocks and shadows.

Not much else of note happened on the drive – SOSDD* mostly.

Unloaded lots at Jeremiah’s place – stuff he can use immediately or tools that he can use whenever.

There’s some things in a storage unit – WOW are they expensive! – that will have some disposition within 18 or so months. Either they go to my new abode or sold.

Had a great time with the grands – got to see both Trevor and Garrett play baseball. Kinsley was all over me, loving and snugglin. Ain't she a cutie!

Colton was a bit more reserved than other visits – but since we’ll be seeing the grands a bit more often I expect that will change too.

The next post will detail the joys of the house sale process. I look forward to putting all that behind me.